Follow Us on Google
Ongoing education summit
From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, has expressed the strong commitment of the Federal Government in tracking problems out-of-school children in Nigeria.
He said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a lover of education is deliberate about involving state government and key stakeholders to address the growing challenge posed by this menace and improve the quality of foundational learning across the country.
Speaking at the ongoing 2026 Basic Education In Nigeria Bootcamp ( BEN – B) Summit in Jos, with the theme ‘Enhancing Access To Inclusive Quality Education And Bridging The Gap for Out- Of – School Children In Nigeria”, the minister acknowledged the infrastructural gap in the education sector and expressed the government’s commitment in bridging it.
He said, “The topic, the theme, is the reason why we’re here. To continue to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. We’ve seen significant progress in the past 24 months plus.
“We have a president, who believes so much in education as the bedrock of our development and as we march out on the plan of the president to move this economy, to grow our GDP to $1 trillion in the next four years, education remains the front and center on how we will do that.
“And we’ve made significant progress in, as I said, in areas of number of out-of-school children. We’ve moved several million kids out of, or from the street into school.
“The boot camp is to really like a stock-taking session for us on our foundation and education sector. The junior, the primary school and the junior secondary school to see what we’ve done, to see how our policies are going and how much we’ve been able to implement, where we’re seeing results and where we need to make changes. And make improvement.
“But I can tell you between the last, the first boot camp that was done about three years ago and what we’re from today, we’ve seen significant improvement in areas of out-of-school children, how we’re reducing out-of-school children, in areas of quality of education.
“There’s been significant improvement in numeracy and literacy rate in the country. We’ve seen improvement in quality of education as well. We will be doing it fast.
Other News
“We will be doing it at the same time, but for the first measurement of learning assessment since five years, that will be started in June.
“We’ll be able to now really check in a more objective manner how activities are going in arithmetic, mathematics, English and social sciences and also we’re focusing on children’s technical, vocational education. We’ve been able to bring that back as well as front and centre by educators.
Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad speaking at the event, said the gathering came at a defining moment in Nigeria’s education journey as the country continues to grapple with a high number of out-of-school children and poor-quality education.
The minister listed initiatives such as LUMINA 2030, EduRevamp, Communities of Practice, CoP, and Skill-Up as part of efforts to tackle the out-of-school children crisis and improve teacher capacity development nationwide.
Plateau State Governor, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang, represented by Deputy, Josephine Piyo, described education as the cornerstone of inclusive development, peace and economic growth, saying millions of out-of-school children pose serious implications for national development, security and social cohesion.
“The challenge of out-of-school children is not merely a statistic; it represents millions of dreams deferred, potentials untapped and futures uncertain,” he said.
Mutfwang said the Plateau State Government had taken deliberate steps to improve access to quality education through infrastructure development and enhanced teacher capacity by constructing 397 classrooms and renovated 557 others, while 33 motorised boreholes had been drilled in schools to provide clean water.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Abel O. Enitan, earlier in his remarks, said the Bootcamp was conceived three years ago as a practical platform to move beyond policy discussions to actionable solutions.
Enitan said monitoring visits conducted by the ministry showed that many states had expanded access through community-based learning centres, strengthened open schooling initiatives and improved data tracking for out-of-school children.
Stakeholders at the event expressed optimism that the deliberations would produce practical recommendations and lasting solutions to reduce the number of out-of-school children and improve access to inclusive, equitable and quality education in Nigeria.
The Bootcamp will end on April 30, 2026.
